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posted on 1-5-2017 at 07:31 AM
OOfficial Discussion Thread for: NXT 2017
It's late, and there's no actual new NXT until next week. But WWE burned the last available footage from 2016 to make a new episode for
tonight, and....
I don't want to go against my own myriad posts and intel briefings to the contrary, but did we just see Joe jobbed so decisively that
WWE's next move is to reboot him?
That is to say, promote him out of NXT and start him somewhere new?
To be clear, 2 years ago, everything I said about Joe signing a contract that was designed for him to stay in NXT and be a steady veteran hand was
true.... but at this point, things have changed. I think we can actually start to get sorta, kinda, maybe excited for Joe on the main roster... cuz
he's toast as far as NXT goes after putting that match on TV.
If so, the "where?" is the Rumble. But the "who?" is a really interesting question. Personally, I'd go Joe-to-SD, to continue the narrative
of "opportunity" (Alpha and Alexa already hold titles, so Joe challenging Ambrose works for me, with a bonus that I'd love to see Joe form a
stable with the Usos at the same time and in parallel)... but I know your mileage may vary on that...
As far as the rest of tonight's show? Pretty good stuff. The "televised house show" can be a nice change-up, but this is two change-ups in a
row from NXT, so it's not so changey.... on the upside, the Japan show did a nice job of featuring Tajiri/Towzawa and the Australia show did a
nice job of making TM61 look like a million bucks (including a post-match mutual admiration society with DIY) and let Hometown Hero Buddy Murphy tag
with a "10" who is not his own real-life girlfriend (FYI: Alexa is rapidly approaching "11" status in OO's OOpinion), so the local flavor
was different, but still....
Looking forward to fresh NXT tapings, but this is what we have to talk about for the first week of 2017.....
Rick
[Edited on 1-6-2017 by Matte]
GodEatGod
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posted on 1-6-2017 at 07:13 AM
Not really a rumor, but HHH confirmed Chris Hero/Kassius Ohno as being welcomed back into the NXT fold on his FB page today. Hopefully he'll get
a better run around the place this time.
EDIT: moved from rumors thread
[Edited on 1-6-2017 by Matte]
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Matte
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posted on 1-6-2017 at 11:20 PM
Fun times. To hark back to the Osaka show though - fuck me Asuka/Jaz was good!
A true eye-opener for what both are capable of and I have to say one of the best big person vs little person matches I can recall. Well executed and
believable. Lets hope Nia gets the same chance to shine elsewhere.
nOOb
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posted on 1-7-2017 at 12:45 AM
quote:Originally posted by OORick
I don't want to go against my own myriad posts and intel briefings to the contrary, but did we just see Joe jobbed so decisively that
WWE's next move is to reboot him?
That is to say, promote him out of NXT and start him somewhere new?
To be clear, 2 years ago, everything I said about Joe signing a contract that was designed for him to stay in NXT and be a steady veteran hand was
true.... but at this point, things have changed. I think we can actually start to get sorta, kinda, maybe excited for Joe on the main roster... cuz
he's toast as far as NXT goes after putting that match on TV.
That has to be the route they're taking, right? I mean, first Owens goes down for Balor, then Owens transitions to Raw full-time. Then Balor
goes down for Joe, sticks around simply for the Nakamura showcase, then Balor gets drafted. There's really no one in need of showcasing Joe
for, and, if there was ever a show to debut a guy that is a badass, the Rumble is it. Have him show up, toss a few guys, get bidded on by Raw and
Smackdown, and that's that.
Dammit, it's so simple they won't do it.
G. Jonah Jameson
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posted on 1-7-2017 at 01:09 AM
I doubt there'll be any bidding, so much as Samoa Joe just shows up on RAW or SmackDown! immediately following his Royal Rumble debut, but
that's pretty much exactly what I expect to happen. Though it's possible WWE holds off until the night after Wrestlemania to debut Joe,
too.
sam795
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posted on 1-7-2017 at 03:43 PM
If Kassius Ohno enters the Rumble will he count as two spots?? :-)
Gobshite
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posted on 1-7-2017 at 04:12 PM
Nobody has ever lost the NXT title and stuck around:
Rollins, Neville, Bo Dallas, Big E, Zayn, Owens, Balor...
In fact, with the exception of Blake and Murphy, who I believe are now singles competitors- nobody has ever left any NXT title scene and gone back to
the Midgard. It's championship, lose it, main roster.
Makes sense really- maybe this year Joe gets that number 3 spot that AJ did last year.
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Ecosystem
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posted on 1-7-2017 at 09:23 PM
Kind of surprised to see Chris Hero coming back as Kassius Ohno when it's a one-joke name, Kevin Owens already got the KO moniker, and most
everyone is using their indie names now (with some exceptions like TM-61). I guess he was on televised NXT long enough before this?
[Edited on 1-7-2017 by Ecosystem]
There doesn't have to be a "victim" here. There can just be two assholes.
-Lucky Lopez
salmonjunkie
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posted on 1-8-2017 at 09:12 PM
Although Chris Hero is a pretty bad name as well.
Split the difference and call him Chris Ohno?
First 9
The Rowdy One
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posted on 1-8-2017 at 11:00 PM
They have to move Joe to SD if they want to keep his character in tact. He's basically the most dangerous whiner ever. Lashing out viciously for
slights(sometimes imaginary) done against him. You can keep up the magic with Regal by making him Daniel Bryan's problem now. Moving him to RAW,
the land of the heels I feel would take away his explosiveness.
salmonjunkie
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posted on 1-9-2017 at 12:45 AM
I agree Joe should be on SD. And he needs to feud with John Cena
Gobshite
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posted on 1-25-2017 at 11:51 PM
Just watching the Australia show from a few weeks ago...
Liv Morgan: Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a carbon copy of Carmella's gimmick, right? Does that limit her main roster appeal a bit?
Roode more over in Oz that Murphy. Oh dear.
Billie Kay needs to go more Malificent with the look...
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nOOb
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 02:40 AM
I don't know if it's just the a problem with the audio, but this crowd kinda sucks in comparison to other NXT big show crowds. If this is
what we can expect from the Rumble crowd tomorrow, this might be the first crowd to be perfectly fine with a suck finish.
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royberto
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 03:18 AM
For those that said Seth Rollins would get booed if he went after HHH at Takeover, you were just proven wrong. Seth got a large pop and HHH got
himself booed without saying a word.
LoveMuscle
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 03:49 AM
quote:Originally posted by nOOb
I don't know if it's just the a problem with the audio, but this crowd kinda sucks in comparison to other NXT big show crowds.
They warmed up after those first two matches.
nOOb
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 04:22 AM
Yeah, outside of Network issues during the main event, they made me feel better about tomorrow and the overall atmosphere they're going to
provide.
Also, WWE may have just struck gold with Bobby Roode. Everything he did in that was amazing. Rope breaks, staying down an extra minute while
Shinsuke was trying to set him up for the finish and baiting him into the roll up, seemingly luring him into that knee to the outside that eventually
cost him the match...that was absolute old school heel brilliance. It isn't "Roode won because the announcers say he outsmarted Nakamura", it
was actually "Roode won because he actually did outsmart Nakamura".
Also also, I don't know where they re-discovered Percy Watson, but they should undo that quick.
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Paddlefoot
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 08:06 AM
Wrasslin' fans are awesome.
Gonna be nuts when Joe and Nakamura enter the Rumble tomorrow. Be even more insane if they allow him a bit of cross-over like they did when KO was NXT
champ and put Roode in the Rumble. He won't win but fuck will that entrance theme send the place crazy.
PS: massive love for Nikki Cross. Gonna be terrific when she hits the main roster because if the women on RAW and SD are lacking anything it's a
genuine bad ass maniac little bitch in the Cross/Rosemary/Daffney vein.
You know, everyone says it's not supposed to make sense, like that's the whole point, dude. And I'm just saying, you know,
that's like an excuse for lazy storytelling. Just don't sell me shite and tell me it's gold, all right? I might be stoned, but
I'm not high. You know what I mean?
- Cassidy from Preacher, commenting on The Big Lebowski and/or professional wrestling
GodEatGod
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 11:32 AM
Count me in on the Nikki Cross love. She does so much with her facial expressions and her body language, and it's the kind of character the
current women's division is really lacking.
I doubt Nakamura's in the Rumble - he's gonna be sellin' that knee still, I'm guessing, much as I want him on the main roster
NOW. Bobby Roode really is one of those wrestlers who performs for the occasion - the higher the profile match, the more he tends to bring it and I"m
glad he did just that.
"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like
Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist." - Tina Fey
scott19buckeye
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 12:46 PM
What are everyone's thoughts on Takeover: SA? My main thoughts is the love of some old school psychology. Crowd was kind of dead but went from
0-10 a few times throughout. I agree with another poster, I hope this isn't a pre-curser of tomorrow's crowd
Nothing special about the opener (which I watched three times, thanks Xbox One). Tye is over but I think it is because of his ten gimmick and not his
actual wrestling ability. Ask Sandow about that, anyways I digress. The match made sense and went along an established formula. I am not sure how far
EY can get with the angle, they don't seem over...except for Nikki Cross (more on that later).
Strong and Cien was good. again more along the lines of a typical story between modern wrestlers. Both men put on a good show and it ended as
expected. I'm excited about where these two go in the future. Cien seems over as a heel but I hope it isn't because of his nationality.
I wasn't expected much from the tag championship...am I glad I was wrong. That was a very good match. I was worried the big guys would pretty
much squash them. Yes, they did squash them but DIY was given many opportunities to take control of the match and make it believable they could win
the match. IMO, AOP also told the story well when DIY took the match over; making it look believable that they were vulnerable. I was a little worried
about Akam's exposed shoulder when Razar broke up the submission but Razar changed JW's trajectory at the last second, protecting his
partner's actual safety while making the spot look phenomenal. Good match.
Seth Rollins spot was unexpected and did a good job for both parties. Rollins received a great ovation when he showed up and there seemed like an
audible gasp. The announcers actually seemed surprised when he showed up. They were talking about the tag match, the crowd picked up, Seth started
talking and they all swung around to see what was going on. HHH got instant heel heat when he didn't respond and siced security instead of
getting upset and doing it himself. That told two stories, it gave him instant heel heat along with telling the world that wrestler HHH and Seth
Rollins are WWE/RAW wrestlers. Using security and immediately walking backstage tells the world that Paul Levesque is totally committed to the NXT
brand and that Seth's actions didn't have a place in that environment. He needed to get back to running the Takeover show and not deal
with this main roster event.
The women's match wasn't great in the name of mechanics and wrestling moves but I thought it told a good story. I like the direction they
are taking with Nikki Cross, making her look legitimate. I like how they protected her by making her strong and eliminating her with some heal
chicanery. I also liked how the Aussies were a team and broke away from the "Every for themselves" mentality of a Fatal Four way but I do worry that
they now have been buried. If they can't do it as a team how can they do it by themselves? There was a sense of reality that Asuka could lose
that match after Nikki's removal from the match. Good story telling, IMO
And that coup de gras!! What a phenomenal main event!! If you haven't watched it, DO IT! Those two men told a great story using some old school
wrestling psychology. I thought Roode was PERFECT with his small heal tactics at the beginning of the match, using the ropes to stop SN from starting
his offense. The pace was phenomenal throughout, with what I thought was awesome heal/face tactics which were masked by the two men's skills. It
wasn't just blatant tactics that caused things to happen, all events were organic from the story they told. I am worried NXT is using the late
injury angle a little too much. I also wish Roode would have done something to cause the injury but that might be my preference and not good wrestling
story telling. What a fun match and I'm going to watch it again.
My fantasy booking for the rumble was Joe and SN would be #1 and #2 and would fight to the final four but I don't see that happening now with
SN's "injury". Also, what is up with the pic of Chris Hero/SN? Is that TV taping being removed from the future by recording at the house
show's or does SN win the title back her in the next few days? I'm guessing they give SN a month off to work on his English and push him
strong around the pre-WM PPV's for his debut.
[Edited on 1-29-2017 by scott19buckeye]
royberto
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 01:02 PM
quote:Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Wrasslin' fans are awesome.
Gonna be nuts when Joe and Nakamura enter the Rumble tomorrow. Be even more insane if they allow him a bit of cross-over like they did when KO was NXT
champ and put Roode in the Rumble. He won't win but fuck will that entrance theme send the place crazy.
PS: massive love for Nikki Cross. Gonna be terrific when she hits the main roster because if the women on RAW and SD are lacking anything it's a
genuine bad ass maniac little bitch in the Cross/Rosemary/Daffney vein.
Nakamura isn't going to be in the Rumble, unless they want to
completely cheapen the injury angle they did last night.
Columbo
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 03:53 PM
quote:Originally posted by royberto
Nakamura isn't going to be in the Rumble, unless they want to completely cheapen the injury angle they did last night.
Idk, I think there's a chance they did the injury angle last night so that its more of a surprise when he does show up tonight.
"The North Cafeteria, named after Admiral William North, is located in the western portion of East Hall, gateway to the western half of North Hall,
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royberto
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 04:18 PM
quote:Originally posted by Columbo
quote:Originally posted by royberto
Nakamura isn't going to be in the Rumble, unless they want to completely cheapen the injury angle they did last night.
Idk, I think there's a chance they did the injury angle last night so that its more of a surprise when he does show up tonight. Again,
that would cheapen Roode's win and neuters any ability for him to use "I injured Nakumra and put him on the shelf" for heat. They went way out
of their way to do an injury angle as a way for Roode to win. HHH isn;'t going to allow that to be made pointless having Nakamura come out 1 day
later fit as a fiddle.
[Edited on 1-29-2017 by royberto]
GodEatGod
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 05:08 PM
Sadly, Royberto Johnson is right. I know we're used to hearing good old fashioned frontier gibberish from him ("Razza frassin'
Lasskicker! Frumble Ric Flair's daughter mumble!"). But in this case, I definitely agree, Nakamura's not going out there tonight after
losing his title from having his knee destroyed. Plus, it might water down Samoa Joe's debut to have Nakamura on the same night.
"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like
Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist." - Tina Fey
jaymosley6
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posted on 1-29-2017 at 08:33 PM
Ditto to all those saying Nakamura won't be in the Rumble. NXT can't stand as its own unique brand on the level of Raw and Smackdown if
its storylines get disregarded for the sake of the main roster.
He needs to sit out tomorrow, but I, too, am wondering what this means for that graphic of Nakamura and Hero. Nakamura is still owed a return match
with Roode (which you could conceivably happen at Takeover: Orlando), or is the Hero-Nakamura staredown being set up as the match to serve as
Nakamura's swan and Hero's cementing as the guy to challenge Roode? Lots to think about.
The show had little hype, so of course it exceeded them. Good opener, nice match with Strong-Almas, and the tag match was solid.
Smart booking in the women's match; the parting shot of Nikki smiling as Asuka walked back toward the back telegraphs that she's gotta be
the next challenger, though they're still pushing Ember Moon. Cross' character and ability is the best foil for Asuka because she's
been built as just crazy enough to withstand Asuka's insane offense enough to beat her.
Moon needs an honest-to-goodness title program on NXT, but maybe she'd be better served to work Cross than Asuka. Just my opinion.
Not that this means much, but I had an idea in my head for Rollins to do something similar to what he did. My idea was to have HHH open the show in
the ring with the houselights down and the spotlight on him as he's done in Brooklyn and do his "We Are NXT" gimmick. Then, when the lights
came up, Rollins appears standing behind him and wails on him till it's broken up.
I think having him call HHH out was effective in setting HHH up as a heel in the scenario and my idea might have made Rollins look like a chickenshit,
so I can see why they went that direction. Honestly, Seth has been treading water as a face since September, but the turn is just now picking up steam
once HHH rejoined the story. Part of me feels like they should have pushed his turn back to Survivor Series or something to make the program pop a bit
more.
